1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods related to mounting resin panels to a ceiling, wall, or floor structure as a door, wall or other form of movable divider.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Some recent architectural designs have implemented synthetic, polymeric resins, which can be used as partitions, walls, décor, etc., in offices and homes. Present polymeric resin materials generally used for creating these resin panels comprise F polyvinyl chloride or “PVC”; polyacrylate materials such as acrylic, and poly (methylmethacrylate) or “PMMA”; polyester materials such as poly (ethylene-co-cyclohexane 1,4-dimethanol terephthalate), or “PET”; poly (ethylene-co-cyclohexane 1,4-dimethanol terephthalate glycol) or “PETG”; glycol modified polycyclohexylenedimethlene terephthalate; or “PCTG”; as well as polycarbonate materials.
In general, resin materials such as these are now popular compared with decorative cast or laminated glass materials, since resin materials can be manufactured to be more resilient and to have a similar transparent, translucent, or colored appearance as cast or laminated glass, but with less cost. Decorative resins can also provide more flexibility compared with glass at least in terms of color, degree of texture, gauge, and impact resistance. Furthermore, decorative resins have a fairly wide utility since they can be formed to include a large variety of artistic colors, images and shapes.
As mentioned above, one particular use of decorative resins can be in the panel form, where the panel might be used as a door, wall, or other form of space divider. In the case of a door, there are many conventional ways to mount the door to a ceiling or wall. In particular, a manufacturer or assembler can take a resin panel and attach the resin panel to a ceiling or wall using a sliding, hinged, or pivoting based hardware. Unfortunately, it can be fairly difficult to mount a resin panel in such a position using conventional mounting hardware, and in a way that allows the resin panel to also display its aesthetic properties adequately. For example, conventional mounting hardware typically does not provide an appropriate attachment interface that can be readily hidden or blended with respect to the decorative resin panel.
In addition, conventional mounting hardware tends to be either too large in size, or too complex in configuration to be used with efficiency. For example, the size and configuration of conventional door attachment hardware does not often provide such functional features as height and pitch adjustment. Furthermore, the configuration of conventional mounting hardware tends to result in an attachment that can be fairly noisy when providing sliding or pivoting functions. In addition, the size and configuration of conventional mounting hardware makes such hardware difficult to mount to a given resin panel for use as a door without at least partially hindering the intended aesthetic of the resin panel.
Furthermore, there does not presently exist any sliding door hardware that fully frames and accommodates flexible resin panels generally, as well as some of the unique challenges associated with resin panels. For example, conventional sliding door hardware and frame/glazing systems are typically designed to accommodate glass. As glass is a fairly rigid material, the glass itself provides significant structural stability when used as a door or as a sliding partition. The rigidity of the glass also means that in a fully framed condition, the depths of the frame channels do not need to be substantial (e.g., in depth or width). When using a flexible resin, however, particularly PETG, the shallower depths and widths that might ordinarily be used for glass panels are generally inadequate to fully retain a resin panel (e.g., made of PETG, or even polycarbonate, acrylic, etc.) and accommodate the inherent expansion and contraction of the resin material.
Accordingly, an advantage can be realized with systems and components that provide for a relatively simple and smooth motion, and that preserves an intended aesthetic in a decorative architectural environment.